Nars Launching Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow

Industry sources estimated that the line could do $19 million at retail in its first year on counter globally.

Nars has its eye on a larger share of the color cosmetics category with the launch of Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow.

“Eyes are an important part of every beauty look,” said François Nars, founder and creative director of Nars Cosmetics. “I wanted to try something different in the eye-shadow category and pushed our chemists to create a new formulation that would be first-to-market and have the flexibility of being used wet or dry. The embossment on the powder in the compact reinforces the dimensionality of the formula. I always want to encourage women to play and have the freedom to try different looks, colors and finishes. This will allow them to do so with the wet and dry formula and a full range of 12 new shades.”

About 15 percent of Nars’ U.S. business is currently done in the red-hot eye portion of its color cosmetics business, said Louis Desazars, chief executive officer of Nars. He added that the 12-stockkeeping-unit line, due in July, could raise that percentage to 20 percent in the U.S., putting it on par with the company’s Asia numbers in the category. “We are not as penetrated in eye in the U.S. as we are elsewhere, and we believe that we will take our eye business to the next level and become a destination for the category.” He noted that in Japan, eye colors represent 20 percent of Nars’ business.

“The Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow is formulated specifically to be used both wet and dry; the payoff will be different depending on the approach,” said Nars. “The product is long-wearing and crease-proof and the texture is amazingly unique. When I am developing product, I never forget about the texture; it’s something that makeup artists really notice. It’s lightweight, but the pigment is still strong.”

Nars worked with Intercos on the formula, which includes a proprietary variation of Intercos’ Prisma weightless prism technology, said Desazars, and Fabien Baron designed the black soft-touch square compact which houses the eye shadow.

In-store visuals, shot by Nars, feature Daria Strokous. The image will also be used in digital campaigns in the U.S. and the U.K., said Desazars.

Globally, Nars, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is sold in 1,500 doors. About 600 of those are in the U.S., including four freestanding boutiques. The brand’s next freestanding stores will open in Manhattan on Madison Avenue and in Las Vegas in May.

While Desazars and Nars declined comment on projected sales, industry sources estimated that the line could do $19 million at retail in its first year on counter globally.

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